New Delhi: Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis this week called on US President Joe Biden’s administration to flag off a plan. Internet for the people Cuba Through high-altitude balloons when their government has blocked access.
Can balloons give internet access?
Yes. Alphabet, parent company of Google, worked to perfect an Internet-balloon division service called Loon. It closed that project in January, saying it was not commercially viable.
Prior to the shutdown, Loon Balloon was serving mountainous areas in Kenya through a partnership with Telkom Kenya, a local telecom operator. The service also helped provide wireless communications in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, which destroyed the island’s mobile network. Loon partnered with AT&T to provide the service.
How does that work?
Loon balloons were effectively a tennis court-sized cell tower. They floated at 60,000 to 75,000 feet, or 11 to 14 miles (18,000– 23,000 m, or 18–22 km), above commercial jetliner routes. Made from the common plastic polyethylene, the balloons used solar panels to power and could provide service to smartphones in partnership with local telecommunications.
Each balloon can serve thousands of people, the company said. But they had to be changed every five months due to harsh conditions in the stratosphere. And controlling the balloons can be difficult. “Navigating balloons through the stratosphere has always been difficult,” wrote Salvatore Candido, Loon’s chief technology officer, in a December 2020 blog post. The company created an algorithm that tracks wind patterns.
What equipment was required?
Loon had said that beyond ballooning, it needed network integration with telecommunications to provide on-the-ground service and some equipment in the area. It also required permission from local regulators, something that the Cuban government is unlikely to grant.
Can a network be established remotely?
Yes. Loon used several balloons to extend the connection beyond the required ground link. In a 2018 test, Loon said the connection jumped 1,000 kilometers, or about 620 miles, over 7 balloons. Other times, it bridged the wireless connection between the two balloons over 600 kilometers, or about 370 miles. Cuba and Florida are only about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away from their closest.
Is this possible?
But experts aren’t sure that setting up guerrilla internet service for Cuba this way would be so easy. It would require an unused band of spectrum, or radio frequency, to transmit a connection to Cuba, and the use of spectrum is usually controlled by national governments. Anyone trying this would have to find a free block of spectrum that wouldn’t be interfered with, said Jacob Sharonie. Mobius Consulting, a mobile and wireless consulting firm.
Balloon- or drone-powered networks unlikely to be economical in the long term, said Tim Farrar TMF Associates, a satellite communications consultant. While they are suitable for bridging communications in disasters or war zones, the transmission capabilities of such networks are not large, “certainly not large enough to serve the entire population of Cuba or anything of that sort,” Farrar said. he said.
Another challenge: the Cuban government may also try to jam the signal.
Who is involved in the Cuban effort?
DeSantis promoted the balloon idea Thursday with two Cuban-American members of Congress, Reps Maria Salazar and Carlos Jiménez, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and Cuban-American lawyer, businessman and museum director Marcel Felipe from the Miami area.
Felipe said he has been talking for nearly two years with a defense contractor that could cost-effectively deploy such a balloon in airspace near Cuba, but declined to name the company. Felipe said his idea would include broadcasting internet connectivity to mobile phones directly on the island without any ground provider involvement. In comments to The Associated Press, Felipe claimed that it would not be possible for the Cuban government to block these balloon-delivered signals “in any significant way”, although he provided no evidence.
None of the supporters estimated the cost. Salazar said that if the federal government supported the plan, he believed it could be fully funded with contributions from members of the Cuban diaspora if needed.
How is internet access in Cuba?
Internet access in Cuba has been expensive and relatively rare until recently. Starting in December 2018, Cubans can access the Internet on their phones through the state telecommunications monopoly. More than half of Cubans today have internet access.
But the Cuban government restricts and censors free media that is available to Cubans online, according to see human rights. It disrupts Internet access in an attempt to quell the protests.
Can balloons give internet access?
Yes. Alphabet, parent company of Google, worked to perfect an Internet-balloon division service called Loon. It closed that project in January, saying it was not commercially viable.
Prior to the shutdown, Loon Balloon was serving mountainous areas in Kenya through a partnership with Telkom Kenya, a local telecom operator. The service also helped provide wireless communications in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, which destroyed the island’s mobile network. Loon partnered with AT&T to provide the service.
How does that work?
Loon balloons were effectively a tennis court-sized cell tower. They floated at 60,000 to 75,000 feet, or 11 to 14 miles (18,000– 23,000 m, or 18–22 km), above commercial jetliner routes. Made from the common plastic polyethylene, the balloons used solar panels to power and could provide service to smartphones in partnership with local telecommunications.
Each balloon can serve thousands of people, the company said. But they had to be changed every five months due to harsh conditions in the stratosphere. And controlling the balloons can be difficult. “Navigating balloons through the stratosphere has always been difficult,” wrote Salvatore Candido, Loon’s chief technology officer, in a December 2020 blog post. The company created an algorithm that tracks wind patterns.
What equipment was required?
Loon had said that beyond ballooning, it needed network integration with telecommunications to provide on-the-ground service and some equipment in the area. It also required permission from local regulators, something that the Cuban government is unlikely to grant.
Can a network be established remotely?
Yes. Loon used several balloons to extend the connection beyond the required ground link. In a 2018 test, Loon said the connection jumped 1,000 kilometers, or about 620 miles, over 7 balloons. Other times, it bridged the wireless connection between the two balloons over 600 kilometers, or about 370 miles. Cuba and Florida are only about 100 miles (160 kilometers) away from their closest.
Is this possible?
But experts aren’t sure that setting up guerrilla internet service for Cuba this way would be so easy. It would require an unused band of spectrum, or radio frequency, to transmit a connection to Cuba, and the use of spectrum is usually controlled by national governments. Anyone trying this would have to find a free block of spectrum that wouldn’t be interfered with, said Jacob Sharonie. Mobius Consulting, a mobile and wireless consulting firm.
Balloon- or drone-powered networks unlikely to be economical in the long term, said Tim Farrar TMF Associates, a satellite communications consultant. While they are suitable for bridging communications in disasters or war zones, the transmission capabilities of such networks are not large, “certainly not large enough to serve the entire population of Cuba or anything of that sort,” Farrar said. he said.
Another challenge: the Cuban government may also try to jam the signal.
Who is involved in the Cuban effort?
DeSantis promoted the balloon idea Thursday with two Cuban-American members of Congress, Reps Maria Salazar and Carlos Jiménez, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and Cuban-American lawyer, businessman and museum director Marcel Felipe from the Miami area.
Felipe said he has been talking for nearly two years with a defense contractor that could cost-effectively deploy such a balloon in airspace near Cuba, but declined to name the company. Felipe said his idea would include broadcasting internet connectivity to mobile phones directly on the island without any ground provider involvement. In comments to The Associated Press, Felipe claimed that it would not be possible for the Cuban government to block these balloon-delivered signals “in any significant way”, although he provided no evidence.
None of the supporters estimated the cost. Salazar said that if the federal government supported the plan, he believed it could be fully funded with contributions from members of the Cuban diaspora if needed.
How is internet access in Cuba?
Internet access in Cuba has been expensive and relatively rare until recently. Starting in December 2018, Cubans can access the Internet on their phones through the state telecommunications monopoly. More than half of Cubans today have internet access.
But the Cuban government restricts and censors free media that is available to Cubans online, according to see human rights. It disrupts Internet access in an attempt to quell the protests.
.